Why the Coffee Party doesn't cut it
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Why the Coffee Party doesn't cut it
I was going to write a longer essay on the issues raised here, and probably will at some point, but here's a piece that cuts to the chase on why the "pushing for more civility" thing -- also known as bringing a knife to a gunfight -- doesn't work in American politics. (Plus, I wanted to leave the politics-crazed commentariat a little red meat for the rest of the morning.):
Moderates and liberals are responding to this rising threat with feckless calls for "a return to civility," as if all that's needed to put things right again is a stern talking-to from Miss Manners. Though that couldn't hurt, the sad fact is that we're well past the point where it's just a matter of conservatives behaving like tantrum-throwing spoiled brats (which they are). When a mob is surrounding your house with torches and telling you they intend to burn it down, "civility" really isn't the issue any more.
You hear a lot about the Tea Party -- the Coffee Party, not so much. I think the reasons for that are fairly obvious.
Comments (117)
TPS, I did read the article. Where do you think I got that ludicrous and inaccurate overstatement about conservatives "delegitimizing our constitutional democracy? Read my posts. And I do agree with you that the Hutarees went over the line, just like the Fort Dix 5 (or whatever the number was). None of my posts be remotely interpreted as "defend, deny, diminish, and pander."— pj katauskas- "So some of the militias she links to are rightwing groups engaged in sedition - and you dismiss their significance because some of the other groups are closely aligned in many respects, but not actually yet proven to be engaged in sedition" Thanks for opposing free speech and the right to a trial by your peers. Yes, TPS in America you need proof of an actual crime before you can throw your opposition in jail.— RG
- "speaks volumes, RG. Volumes." About what? I'd say your hyperbolic hysterics ove the political oppostion speaks volumes of what you feel about free speech, the right to assembly, and political dissent.— RG
- I guess I should go easy on you today for being so completely laughable, RG. I realize that this must be a tough time of the year for you. Tomorrow you're going to have to actually pay for the privileges and benefits you've accrued living in this country. My condolences. LOL!— Talking point sleuth
- In other words, there have been virtually no violent incidents (the Hutaree planned, but never carried through with it)despite idiots like Sara's hysterical claims. Joel's army! The Oath Keepers! Militias oh my! The alst time the left got all this worked up, it was when Will and others were pushing the notion that Bush was gonna invade Iran and call off the elections.— RG
- "I guess I should go easy on you today for being so completely laughable," Claiming its laughable doesnt make it so TPS. I posted my points and you have done nothing to refute them, once again. Are we not a consitutional republic? didn;t Dems pass the law allowing firearms into public places? How can the blogger guarantee that 100% of protests will carry guns? How can she prove that everyone on the right believes Obama is a Marxist?— RG
- ---}}} Thanks for opposing free speech and the right to a trial by your peers. {{{--- LOL! Just to be clear, this is about someone linked to in the article; a convicted murderer: --snip-- During the interview Adkisson stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of major media outlets. Adkisson made statements that because he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them into office. --snip-- Wow!— Talking point sleuth
- "Tomorrow you're going to have to actually pay for the privileges and benefits you've accrued living in this country." What benefits have I accrued again? Once again, I'd gladly opt out of SS and Medicare, the two biggest parts of the budget. I'd gladly cut back on defense spending, which is the third largest part. The roads have been built decades ago, and I pay tolls and gas taxes on them. Do you mean I'll have to pay for the benefits of giving AIG bonuses? Farm subsidies to giant agras? What benefits am I paying for again?— RG
- "LOL! Just to be clear, this is about someone linked to in the article; a convicted murderer" Just to be clear you once again didge my point. Here's your quote that I replied to: "and you dismiss their significance because some of the other groups are closely aligned in many respects, but not actually yet proven to be engaged in sedition" So you're upset that theres nor proof they're engaged in sedition. Gotcha.— RG
RG, he could have insisted on a public option but he didn't. And people aren't being forced to buy health insurance (but I like how you call it a "product" as if nobody really needs it anyway). The penalty for non-compliance is a tax penalty, not a trip to the gulags. The bail-outs of GM and Chrysler followed the bail-outs of Wall Street in a teetering economy, and are preceded in history by the S&L bail-outs and Chrysler's first bail-out (during Republican regimes). What's the socialist innovation? I don't see it, and most Americans don't see it. They just see the same old corporate grip on power. The Tea Party sees ghosts of cold wars past.- LOL! Now let's just be clear about just some of what RG thinks is irrelevant. Of course, we already discussed the murder of two people because they were "liberals." In addition, the first link in the article is to a group arrested for sedition. The second link (in the fourth paragraph) is to a group that the FBI is investigating for sending threatening letters to all the governors in the country, a group that is: --snip-- Actively recruiting across the country in the last few months and promoted on a Texas radio station, the Guardians of the free Republics believe the US government is a corporate imposter put in place by corrupt bankers as part of the New Deal in 1933. --snip-- Here's what the next link went to: --snip-- In Pensacola, Fla., retired FBI agent Ted Gunderson tells a gathering of antigovernment "Patriots" that the federal government has set up 1,000 internment camps across the country and is storing 30,000 guillotines and a half-million caskets in Atlanta. They're there for the day the government finally declares martial law and moves in to round up or kill American dissenters, he says. "They're going to keep track of all of us, folks," Gunderson warns. --snip-- And it goes on and on. GOVERNMENT RUN INTERNMENT CAMPS!1111!!!!11!!! Nothing to be concerned about there, RG. Just keep that head in the sand, and only come up occasionally to deny, diminish, defend, and pander and grab a little air.— Talking point sleuth
- "RG, he could have insisted on a public option but he didn't." Because it would have been even less popular with the public and more difficult to pass. He did campaign on it while knocking the mandate though. "but I like how you call it a "product" as if nobody really needs it anyway" Um yes, by most estimates 14 mil of the unisured choose to not purchase it. If it were so necessary, what did people do before the advent of health insurance? "The bail-outs of GM and Chrysler followed the bail-outs of Wall Street in a teetering economy, and are preceded in history by the S&L bail-outs and Chrysler's first bail-out" The scale of these bailouts isn;t really comparable. F&F alone will cost more than the S&L. And the gov now owns a huge stake in the autos (and will have to pay for their pensions), which is wildly different than lending Iacocca some cash.— RG
- "Of course, we already discussed the murder of two people because they were "liberals."" This isn't sedition, nor was it organized, which was the topic of her article. "FBI is investigating for sending threatening letters to all the governors in the country" Guess you missed this clip from that link: "Investigators do not see threats of violence in the group’s message" But otherwise you're doing a stelaar job at making your point via caps lock sock puppetry.— RG
- ---}}} If it were so necessary, what did people do before the advent of health insurance? {{{--- LOL! RG's one size fits all argument. "If public education were necessary, what did people do before we had public education?" In an agricultural society! "If medicare were necessary, what did people do before medicare?" When poverty rates among elderly people were well over 50%. RG does have a good point, however. "I mean, if police are necessary, what did people do before the government started paying police? A guy with a bigger club came along, hit you over the head, and stole everything you owned, RG.— Talking point sleuth
- Oh, and TPS the Adkisson murders happened before Obama was elected, tying them to current events seems a tad lazy.— RG
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